I already posted this somewhere else, after part 6 or something. Now that the series have finished, I thought it would be interesting to revisit the thought, as I've seen it pop up elsewhere as well.

First of all, about the narrative. I happened to have read James Joyce's Ulysses a couple of months ago (Well, it took me from september until february to be honest). I don't think that Lynch was inspired by this complex novel, but it has helped me to understand/enjoy/make sense/experience Twin Peaks: The Return. Just like the book its different parts have had often an entirely different feel, a basic plot progressing slowly because of many sidetracks and loads of characters. Some parts are sentimental, some parts are nonsensical. Parts feel out of place, pace is variable. Like I said, I'm not comparing the story or its characters, more the overall narrative experience, including dream scenes. Like I said, I'm not saying the story is comparable, but I do feel that working my way through Ulysses, a very modernistic and often surreal novel, has helped me with appreciating TP:TR, it being an interesting, meaningful and incredibly creative work of art, while having quite a few passages that utterly frustrated me.

Now the Odyssey might be a different thing altogether. Just as Ulysses it's a pinnacle of the history of storytelling. I found the interpretation, that we have seen Cooper's odyssey, only to be spoiled by himself (the opening of the bag of Aelous), the continuous tests that Dougie faces, and the help he recieves by the One Armed Man, who often appears and leads as a higher being, the eventful homecoming, finding a false suitor in his "house"... Again, I'm not saying that, like Joyce did with Odyssey, Lynch has used it as a blueprint for the story. However, there are quite some resemblances that are interesting. I should reread the Oddysey myself, but perhaps I'll write something more substantial about the parallels.

It would have been much more interesting if Cooper would have been spitted out of the Lodge in, let's say, Russia, and he had to travel all the way back to Twin Peaks living multiple adventures (not as Dougie, but as his whole self). That would have been fun and new.

The sojourn through Las Vegas would have aptly paralleled Odysseus' stay with the Lotus-eaters, even bearing in mind that the Percy Jackson film/book already did this.

I suppose, in turn, it could be mentioned that the Odyssey itself seems to borrow quite a bit from the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is widely regarded as some kind of earliest narrative. You could say the idea of going home is a tale as old as history. Maybe this also offers a new way of thinking about the Return -- as a new twist on the epic narrative.

As a matter of fact, 'Chalfont' was the name of the people that rented this space before. Two Chalfonts. Weird, huh?

powerleftist wrote:It would have been much more interesting if Cooper would have been spitted out of the Lodge in, let's say, Russia, and he had to travel all the way back to Twin Peaks living multiple adventures (not as Dougie, but as his whole self). That would have been fun and new.

I don't know. Might be just as stretched out. In the 21st century one would try to get a mobile phone, bank transfer and an airplane ticket Unless he would have forgotten who he was without the Dougie-state of mind.

powerleftist wrote:It would have been much more interesting if Cooper would have been spitted out of the Lodge in, let's say, Russia, and he had to travel all the way back to Twin Peaks living multiple adventures (not as Dougie, but as his whole self). That would have been fun and new.

I don't know. Might be just as stretched out. In the 21st century one would try to get a mobile phone, bank transfer and an airplane ticket Unless he would have forgotten who he was without the Dougie-state of mind.

I would have written a disoriented Cooper who doesn't really know what's going on for a couple of episodes. Also, I would have placed him at the most remote village from the Siberian tundra. Some funny moments with the locals, remembering us the absurd humour from the original series, and acting like a hero for a couple of times for the Russians, and then on a plane to fight Mr. C. long before the finale.